Scalable Fabrication and Testing Processes for Three-Layer Multi-Color Segmented Electrowetting Display.

Guisong Yang,Biao Tang,Dong Yuan,Alex Henzen,Guofu Zhou

doi:10.3390/mi10050341

Abstract

Colorful electrowetting displays (EWD) present many challenges, such as scalability and electro-optical performance improvement (e.g., brightness, color gamut, and contrast ratio). The first full investigation of scalable fabrication and testing processes for multi-color segmented EWD with potentially unprecedented electro-optical performance is proposed. A three-layer architecture is employed to achieve colorful EWD, where the key components are three primary color layers (cyan, magenta, and yellow), switched independently. Unlike previous reports referred to herein, which used the same fabrication and testing processes for each layer, this architecture facilitates a uniform performance, improves yield, and simplifies the process for colorful EWD. With an aperture ratio greater than 80%, National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) color gamut area greater than 63%, switching speed lower than 12 ms, and DC driving voltage below 22V, the testing results of colorful EWD are proven successfully by using our proposed processes. The processes investigated in this paper have greatly improved efficiency, suitable for a high-volume of full-color EWD.

Highlights

Reflective displays utilize ambient light to illuminate the screen, thereby providing superior energy efficiency, sunlight readability, and reading comfort
Fabrication Results The electro–optical performance of the completed three-layer colorful electrowetting displays (EWD) will be discussed
This paper presented the scalable fabrication and testing processes for a three-layer colorful segmented EWD with a potentially unprecedented electro–optical performance

Summary

Introduction

Reflective displays utilize ambient light to illuminate the screen, thereby providing superior energy efficiency, sunlight readability, and reading comfort. These properties make them suitable for applications such as e-book readers, signage, electronic shelf labels, and portable paper-like display devices. Reflective displays such as electrowetting displays (EWD) [1,2,3], electrophoretic displays (EPD) [4], and cholesteric liquid crystal displays (LCD) [5] have been reported. One example of commercial success is the Amazon Kindle EPD e-reader, but EPD has a slow response time, which makes it impossible to play video smoothly. The electro–optic behavior of EWDs is achieved by controlling

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Results

Conclusion